My surf coaching has taken me to many different places around Australia and the World. I have been lucky enough to meet some great people along the journey and surfed some amazing waves. I haven't been every where yet but I am working on it. I will try to share some of my experiences on this blog.

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Wednesday, 14 December 2011

Sumba December 2011

West Sumba

29th
November

Surf coaching
program with Alena, Artom, Anna and Andre with a few Bali warmup days.

Garuda
flight from Tullamarine to Denpassar.Arrive at 2.00pm and after meeting Alena at the airport a quick drive to
Villa Cara on top of Jimbarin Bay Hill. Awesome view of Airport rights from the
Villa.Still have
time for a surf at Balangan. Only small quick clean lefts with a few guys out.Big family
dinner tonight with Russian cuisine. Alena's sister Olga and her friend
Anastasia are staying along with Artom.

30th
November

Swell
looks a touch bigger this morning so we surf Airport lefts. Wind is still
offshore with 3-4ft inconsistent lefts. We surf for a couple of hours and I get
fried by the sun.We have
lunch back at the Villa and then I take Olga to Kuta for her first surf lesson.
Olga gets up at her first attempt and is styling. We have borrowed a soft board
from Endless Summer, a Russian Surf School owned by Andre, Anna and Dimma.We all
have dinner at one of Bali's best Japanese restaurants called 'Take' in Kuta.

1st
December

Lazy
morning then a quick trip to Ulu's. It is pretty small but we find a few waves
up at temples. The arvo session is back at Kuta with Olga. Perfect 2ft lefts
and Olga is sliding left across the wave face. Alena doesn't believe Olga when
tells her what happened.

Dinner
tonight at Sardines, one of Bali's top restaurants in Seminak. Surprise
surprise the smoked sardines were excellent. Finished off the night with some
good music and fun at the Champagne Bar.

2nd
December

Flying to
Sumba this morning from the domestic terminal. Only 55 minutes to West Sumba.
The crew from the Nihiwatu Resort are there to pick us up.

We drive
through the hills for an hour and it reminds me go the Bali Bukit from days
gone by. The last half hour we drop down to the coast and the terrain becomes
dryer.

All the homes
look similar. On poles with corrugated iron roofs. The roofs have a tall hat
like structure in the centre. Apparently the locals store their prize possessions
there. There is always a cooking fire alight inside and usually a concrete
tombstone in the front yard to bury the family.Down on
the coast we arrive at Nihiwatu Resort and are greeted by Ernst, Ben and the team.
We sort our rooms, have some lunch and wait until the tide drops a tad for a
sunset surf.The resort
is pretty special, only 10 surfers. It is set in 400 plus acres and is
connected with the Sumba
foundation.

3rd
December

Up early
for a boat ride around the corner to the hole. 3-4ft A Frames.Only wind swell so pretty messy but the
potential is obvious.Back in
time for the hobbits second buffet breakfast.Plenty of
snooze time in between three course lunch and dinner. We do manage a couple
more surfs on the left at our front doorstep.

4th
December

Still
small wind swell. Alena, Anna and I surf the left while the boys take the
rubber Ducky to the hole. Nothing special in the way of waves but we did take a
look at the local village that more African than Indonesian. Really hot weather
and while these villages are better off because of the resort they are still
really poor. Health issues must be a problem.

Back to
Nihiwatu for a three course lunch pulls on the guilt string a tad.

Boys have
crack on the Jet Ski while the rest of us just kick back.

5th
December

Up for our
early surf as usual, still really small. Anna decides we all need to trek to
the waterfall. After a mini Kokoda hike in really hot humid conditions we
arrive at the water fall. We have had bets how high it would be, ranging from 3
to 8 meters. The falls are actually 93 meters and stunning to look at. We swim
in the cold water to cool off and have lunch in front of the falls. Pretty
spectacular. Long drive back but in time for a late surf.

6th
December

Ground hog
day as far as waves go. After the early surf we take the speed boat out for
some snorkelling on the coral reef. Plenty of fish around. Lazy arvo with a
late surf. We have
met an interesting character called Claus Bogh who heads up the malaria
prevention program for the Sumba foundation here. He dispels some of the
malaria myth and explains with a coordinated approach how to begin to eradicate
this disease.

7th
December

Some swell
this morning, squeaked a quick surf before the wind came up. Tried a right
north of Nihiwatu that picked up more swell but pretty fat. The rubber ducky
takes us there but the resorts surf guide, a WA lad called Ben takes us back on
the Jet Ski. Not a bad long board wave. Back out in front before dark with an
onshore wind. Some size but not much quality. The wave here works best on mid
tide. An evening
slide show of Nihiwatu, red bull snowboarding and a coaching video.

8th
December

Still some
swell. Up before 6am as usual. The wind is offshore and waves are pretty good.
The swell direction is important here, needs to have some south in it to line
up OK.

Breakfast,
the buffet breakfast bar has disappeared for some reason today. We must be
eating too much. Still a choice of eggs pancakes etc and the Sumatran plunger
coffee blend is the best. Road trip
a right south of Nihiwatu. Cross shore and too small. Check out a cliff top
village on the way home. Really cool. Lunch and
then a surf at 3.43 pm. A little onshore but fun swell is picking up.

9th
December

Good waves
this morning finally Nihiwatu shows us her potential. Clean offshore waves with
an occasional 5ft set. Tricky wave to surf certainly needs a SW swell so you
don't get pinched on the end section.

We need to
do all the last minute billing etc. Drinks, board and boat hire are all extra.

Pile into
the Nihiwatu bus for the ride back to the airport. Need to stop at the
antique store for Alena to pick up some world famous Sumba Ikat (specially
woven and dyed material).

The west
Sumba airport is being renovated from the tin shed it has been. Plane arrives
at 4.15 and takes off 20 minutes later.

All in All
a really different trip, we didn't get epic waves in Sumba in fact I think everything
has to be exactly right for the surf - swell, swell direction, wind and tides but I really
enjoyed the Sumba experience, such different place than any other I have visited
in Indonesia.

About Me

If you have been surfing the web looking for a way to improve your surfing at the beach then look no further. Mal Gregson lives and surfs on Phillip Island and conducts personal surf sessions that include equipment appraisal, surf awareness and more importantly the bio mechanics of improved technique. Mal works in Australia, Bali, Mentawai Islands, Thailand, South America, Maldives, South Africa and ..................